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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why did Liza Annenskaya hire Stepanida?

2. When did Dmitri believe a barrier was broken between himself and Maryanka?

3. Who are the Grebensk Cossacks descended from?

4. How does Tolstoy describe conjugal relations with Eugene Irtenev and his wife?

5. What is Marya's first reaction to Sergey?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Dmitri go about confessing his love to Maryanka?

2. What causes Sergey and Marya's relationship to blossom?

3. What happens to end the truce between Ivan Ilych and Praskovya Federovna?

4. Describe the beginning of Marya's relationship with Sergey.

5. When do Ivan Ilych and Praskovya Federovna finally arrive at a truce?

6. What kinds of problems does Ivan Ilych have with Praskovya Federovna, his wife?

7. What intrudes to make Marya unhappy?

8. How does illness affect Ivan Ilych?

9. What does Dmitri Olenin think he will find in the Caucasus?

10. What is Marya Alexandrovna's situation at the beginning of "Family Happiness"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of Tolstoy's characters learn and grow, but some, like Ivan Ilych's wife, remain consistently bound to their temperament. Analyzing characters who are bound by temperament, assess the theory of temperament in Tolstoy's writing. Are people free to develop, or are they bound by their characters, in Tolstoy's opinion?

Essay Topic 2

How does the theme of the child function in "Family Happiness"? Who acts like a child? How do actual children affect the characters?

Essay Topic 3

How does Tolstoy see marriage? Analyze marriages in three stories, and describe the uses, benefits and disadvantages of marriage in Tolstoy's writing.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 651 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample